In the aftermath of World War II in 1945, Winston Churchill was lauded as the most popular British prime minister of all time, thanks to his major role in the Allied victory over the Nazis.
It seems as though Churchill was bound to win the elections, but it was not to be. Instead he was soundly defeated by the leader of the Labour Party, Clement Atlee, due to the fact many Brits did not believe Churchill could possibly hope to mend an economy devastated by the war.
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An Israeli woman scavenges for food in discarded trash during the coronavirus crisis
(Photo: Nadav Abas)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used to model his public image after Churchill, often comparing his own determination with that of the British leader during the fight against the Nazis.
Netanyahu did Israel a great service in this time of crisis thanks to his determination to procure vast amounts of coronavirus vaccines. But like Churchill after the war, Netanyahu must now be unseated as he clearly lacks the ability to mend the country’s devastated economy.
Netanyahu understands that the economy is the next big problem as he chose to switch strategy ahead of Tuesday's vote to reflect that.
No longer does he spew rhetoric meant to frighten the population into voting for him. No, now Netanyahu is all about the economy.
Instead of warning that “the Arabs are stampeding to the polls” in order to scare his supporters into casting their votes for him, Netanyahu now plasters the health system’s hope-inducing “back to life” slogan on each of his party’s election posters.
According to Netanyahu, while the left wing is busy obsessing over the extremist Religious Zionist party he has allied with, he is only worrying about our children’s future.
Netanyahu held the post of finance minister during Ariel Sharon’s term as prime minister way back in 2003 to 2005. During that time he elected to cut budgets from government ministries, welfare services and social programs.
And while he was lauded for apparently placing what was best for the economy above his own political career, it resulted in Likud receiving just 12 seats in the 2006 elections.
For the voters of the Likud - majority of whom come from poorer areas - saw Netanyahu as the cause of their financial woes.
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A business that closed during the the pandemic displays a poster of Benjamin Netanyahu with the message 'Shut down because of me'
(Photo: Moti Kimchi)
“As finance minister I put aside my own personal interests and went against my constituents in order to save the Israeli economy; I was ready to spill my own political blood,” said Netanyahu at the time.
How things have changed. Today Netanyahu is only willing to spill the state’s coffers to please his voters and coalition partners who work to make him the eternal prime minister.
Some of these partners are the ultra-Orthodox parties and their constituents, who have steadily received enormous budgets and a myriad of benefits.
The number of yeshiva students around the country has doubled since 2014. It now stands at 160,000 - all of whom are exempt from military service and are funded by the state.
According to the estimates of the Bank of Israel, the Haredi community's refusal to integrate into the job market has done nothing but harm to the state’s economy.
"The education [system] of the ultra-Orthodox will cause significant damage to the growth of the economy. This is a group that will in the future constitute more than 20% of the state’s labor force, which will severely damage the level of Israel’s GDP output,” wrote the bank in its 2019 report.
And that was before the pandemic ravaged the economy. The budget deficit for 2020 stands at NIS 160 billion (approx. $48.5 billion), which Israel’s working population will have to cover through cuts in services to which they are entitled from the state.
And while Netanyahu of 2003 might have had a chance of digging Israel out of its financial hole, Netanyahu of 2021 has no such hope.
The Likud leader will not make any necessary budget cuts or decisions that will benefit the country’s economy, since his hope of a stable government lies with the ultra-Orthodox parties who have proven they care only for their own constituents even at the cost of the general population.
Netanyahu is also more vulnerable than ever to being coerced. His corruption trial is about to begin proper and he hopes that a right-wing government will help protect him from prosecution.
He will pay any price to appease his partners, even if it means stomping all over the working class.
Israelis are now at a crossroads. The greatest threat is not Iran or the Palestinians but the crumbling economy.